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Pedestrian accidents in marked and unmarked crosswalks: A quantitative study
Abstract
A quantitative study was conducted to examine a random group of pedestrian accidents at unprotected crosswalks in the city of Los Angeles and to determine the validity of current city practices. The study involved 104 intersections where marked crosswalks have been removed on arterial streets due to street resurfacing from February 1982 through December 1991. The results of the study are presented.
... Niaki, et al., 2016). In investigating pedestrian safety at non-signalized crosswalk locations, many studies have also relied on using historical crash data (Campbell, 1997;Chu, 2006;Chu, et al., 2008;Ellis & Van Houten, 2009;Gibby, et al., 1994;Jones & Tomcheck, 2000;Liu, et al., 2011;Pfortmueller, et al., 2014;Zegeer, et al., 2001). However, it is known by researchers and practitioners that the crash-data based approach depends on the quality and availability of the data Tarko, et al., 2009). ...
... Different sources of data and approaches have been proposed for pedestrian safety studies at non-signalized crosswalks. The crash data-based approach has relied on crash reports from the police, government organizations, and sometimes ambulance or in-/outpatient records from hospitals (Diogenes & Lindau, 2010;Ellis & Van Houten, 2009;Ivan, et al., 2012;Jones & Tomcheck, 2000;Olszewski, et al., 2015;Pfortmueller, et al., 2014). In the traffic data-based approach, traffic information such as speed and volume have been collected using different methods including speed guns, loop detectors, magnetic plates and video data (Antov, et al., 2007;Gitelman, et al., 2016a;Gitelman, et al., 2016b;Liu, et al., 2011;Wang, et al., 2017). ...
... Researchers have likewise investigated safety issues and sought solutions to improve pedestrian safety at nonsignalized crosswalk locations. Safety, along with the efficiency of several designs and safety countermeasures has been investigated in several studies (Cafiso, et al., 2011;Huang, et al., 1999;Jones & Tomcheck, 2000;Sisiopiku & Akin, 2003;Smith, et al., 2009;Van Houten, 1988). ...
Pedestrian safety is a topic that concerns everyone. Not only does it concern researchers and practitioners who dedicate themselves to improve road safety, it also concerns all road users, as everyone is a pedestrian at some point in the transportation system. The high frequency of pedestrian crash injuries and the great possibility of fatal consequences have made pedestrian safety a great focus in road safety research. Pedestrian safety becomes even more of a problem at non-signalized locations when compared to signalized crosswalk locations, due to the absence of traffic lights controlling the traffic. Different methods have been proposed and empirical studies have been conducted to investigate pedestrian safety. Despite the extensive literature on investigating pedestrian safety at non-signalized crosswalk locations, much remains to be done, especially in studying interactions between the pedestrian and vehicles and their behavior during those interactions. Therefore, this dissertation aims to improve data collection methods for pedestrian safety analysis and to develop a methodological framework to investigate pedestrian safety at non-signalized crosswalk locations and implement such a framework using video data collected from different crosswalk locations with the help from vision-based tracking technology.
The work of the dissertation started with reviewing methodologies and data collection methods in previous studies. Methods used in past studies were classified into five different approaches. These are the crash data approach and four surrogate safety approaches, namely, the traffic data approach, the conflict event approach, the behavioral analysis approach, and the perception analysis approach. Issues in the use of terms and definitions, methodologies applied, and data used in previous studies were summarized. Some preliminary data collection work had indicated the limitations of using regular visible spectrum cameras in low visibility conditions. To overcome the limitations that regular visible spectrum cameras have encountered during the data collection process, the thermal camera was introduced and its performance in road user detection, classification, and speed measurement was validated through its comparison to the use of the regular camera. Validation results showed an evidently better performance from thermal camera for low visibility and shadow conditions, particularly when tracking pedestrians and cyclists. However, the regular camera narrowly outperformed the thermal camera during daytime. For speed measurements, the thermal camera was consistently more accurate than the regular camera at daytime and nighttime. To evaluate existing measures in investigating pedestrian-vehicle interactions at non-signalized crosswalk locations, a study was conducted to investigate pedestrian safety at nighttime. Although, the methodology applied in the study performed well in looking at pedestrian-vehicle interactions, further limitations of using safety measure methods were discovered upon the completion of the study. A novel framework, which evaluates pedestrian safety by looking at the interaction between the pedestrian and the vehicle, and their behavior during the interactions, was proposed and illustrated through a case study. The framework was further tested through a study to compare the performance of three main non-signalized crosswalk types, including uncontrolled, marked, and stop sign controlled crosswalks, on pedestrian safety using data collected from different sites in Montreal. Among the three types of non-signalized crosswalks, stop sign controlled crosswalks had the best performance in protecting pedestrians while uncontrolled crosswalks performed the worst. To explore the extensive applications of the framework, the investigation of cyclist-pedestrian interactions was introduced as it has been a major road safety problem but underestimated in previous research. Marked crosswalks alone fail to protect pedestrians from passing cyclists. Besides, pedestrian safety at crossings on cycling facilities with downhill grades was found to be a great issue.
In brief, the dissertation will: 1) provide a comprehensive literature review that acts as a practical reference to investigating pedestrian safety at non-signalized crosswalk locations, 2) introduce a promising alternative, the use of the thermal camera, to overcome the limitations of using the visible spectrum camera for automated traffic data collection, 3) propose a new framework that describes pedestrian-vehicle interactions more precisely, compared to previous studies. This framework is promising for different purposes in road safety on various topics, such as the analysis of interactions between different types of road users, the simulation of road user interactions, validations of safety treatments, and the performance evaluations of autonomous vehicles.
... For example, Risa (2001) finds that mandatory seatbelt laws increase the rate at which other road users (e.g., pedestrians and bicyclists) are injured in urban areas. Jones and Tomcheck (2000) find that pedestrian crosswalks in Los Angles increase the rate at which pedestrians are involved in accidents. In athletics, a meta-analysis by Schneider et al. (2017) finds that protective headgear and face shields are ineffective at reducing concussion risk. ...
... For other policies, it is possible that regulations caused substitution by the public into other types of activities that increase transmission. They might also cause endogenous reductions in the exercise of caution when safety rules are in place, as researchers have found in other safety settings (see e.g., Risa [2001] and Jones and Tomcheck [2000] for road safety and Schneider et al. ...
We collect a time-series database of business and related restrictions for every county in the United States from March through December 2020. We find strong evidence consistent with the idea that employee mask policies, mask mandates for the general population, restaurant and bar closures, gym closures, and high-risk business closures reduce future fatality growth. Other business restrictions, such as second-round closures of low- to medium-risk businesses and personal care/spa services, did not generate consistent evidence of lowered fatality growth and may have been counterproductive.
... Other studies have confirmed the higher crash rates at marked versus unmarked crosswalks (51,52). A study of 104 locations in Los Angeles indicated that removing marked crosswalks reduced the total number of vehicle-pedestrian crashes at the formerly marked crosswalks as well as nearby unmarked crosswalks (51,52). ...
... Other studies have confirmed the higher crash rates at marked versus unmarked crosswalks (51,52). A study of 104 locations in Los Angeles indicated that removing marked crosswalks reduced the total number of vehicle-pedestrian crashes at the formerly marked crosswalks as well as nearby unmarked crosswalks (51,52). This result suggested that pedestrian-vehicle crashes were not simply being moved to nearby unmarked crosswalks when marked crosswalks were removed. ...
TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) and National Cooperative Highway Research Program have jointly produced and published Improving Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Crossings. The product, which can be referred to as TCRP Report 112 or NCHRP Report 562, examines selected engineering treatments to improve safety for pedestrians crossing high-volume and high-speed roadways at unsignalized locations. The report presents the edited final report and Appendix A. TCRP Web-Only Document 30/NCHRP Web-Only Document 91 (Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Crossings: Appendices B to O) contains the remaining appendixes of the contractor’s final report.
... There are conflicting reports as to the conditions that prompt vehicle-pedestrian fatal accidents. Rothman et al. (2012) find that the severity of accidents increases by more than 250% in signaled crosswalks, while Jones and Tomcheck (2000) find a significant reduction in pedestrian accidents after removal of marked crosswalks, and Pfortmueller et al. (2014) claim that the severity of accidents are significantly higher at non-marked crosswalks. Tefft (2013) reports an eight-times higher risk of a fatal injury during a collision at a speed of 50km/h compared with a speed of 30km/h. ...
Traffic accidents are becoming a significant cause for unnatural deaths around the world, with more than 1.25 million fatalities in road accidents each year, and over 20 million people severely injured. A large portion of accidents that result in fatalities involve interaction between vehicles and pedestrians. In the literature, researchers speculate on a wide range of reasons for these figures. This paper focuses on the relationship between pedestrians’ urgency to cross a busy road and the resulting level of risk for an accident. The probability for an accident is determined by a prediction model for a collision between drivers and pedestrians at congested conflict spots. The model is based on a motion planner called the Probabilistic Navigation Function (PNF), initially designed for robot navigation in dynamic cluttered and uncertain environments. The model predicts pedestrians’ trajectories when crossing a busy road in a sub-meter accuracy, based on the risk they are willing to take (a reflection of the level of urgency to cross the road).
The paper describes an unexpected and surprising pedestrian behavior in simple road crossings scenarios. When the model is given a loose risk boundary (that reflects a high level of pedestrian urgency to cross), the resulting trajectory exposes the pedestrian to a lower risk compared with a trajectory constructed with a strict risk boundary (that reflects a more conservative pedestrian). This is equivalent to claiming that, paradoxically, pedestrians in some scenarios who are willing to take higher levels of risk, face a decreased probability for an accident while crossing a congested road.
The paper introduces the PNF model for crossing pedestrians, analyses their performance in a set of simulations, and explains its rationale. Next, an analytic estimation for the risk level as a function of the crossing angle of the selected trajectory is provided. A series of experiments conclude the paper and support the claim that this phenomenon is frequent among crossing pedestrians. The experimental results suggest that in some common scenarios, more cautious pedestrians may lower the initial risk for an accident at the expense of a total higher risk for an accident during the entire road crossing process, compared with a pedestrian who takes an initial higher level of risk that results in, overall, a decreased probability for an accident. A statistical analysis implies that there are significant differences in this occurrence between adults and children.
... These results agree with Tefft (2013) who found that the risk for a fatal injury during a collision at a speed of 50km/h is eight times higher than at 30km/h. On the other hand, Jones and Tomcheck (2000) showed a significant reduction (more than 60% ) in pedestrian accidents after removal of marked crosswalks in intersections around Los Angeles area. Although this research focused on the quantitative examination of the accidents, and did not investigate the cause for this reduction, they mentioned the 'exposure rate' of the pedestrian as a possible reason ...
More than 1.2 million people die in road crashes each year, and more than 20 million are severely injured, making it the 9th leading cause of death in the world (2.2% of all deaths globally). Pedestrian deaths comprise more than 35% of road accident deaths, mostly as a result of pedestrian-vehicle crashes. This paper proposes a new model for formulating the dynamics of the interaction between drivers and pedestrians at congested conflict spots where drivers and/or pedestrians do not closely follow the traffic laws and regulations. In this type of spots, characterized by heavy traffic, pedestrians and vehicles interact in close proximity, often requiring sharp and aggressive maneuvers to avoid crashes. The model is based on the Probabilistic Navigation Function (PNF), originally developed for robotics motion planning, that constructs a trajectory according to the probabilistic collision risks. According to this model, pedestrians construct a virtual risk map that assigns the entire crossing area with probabilities for a collision with vehicles, and then select their actions based on their perceived probability for collision. Many accidents can be interpreted in terms of the proposed model, either as a result of incorrect perception of risks, or, despite proper estimation of risks, by a wrong choice of collision maneuvers. The development of the model follows a theoretical and experimental investigation of pedestrian/vehicle interactions at crosswalks. The model is implemented in an agent-based simulation system for pedestrian/driver interaction, and is validated using video clips taken at several congested road spots. It can be used for analyzing the effect of changes in location architecture and traffic regulations for each spot. The model can also serve as a standard tool in simulations for assessing accident risks in urban environments. Finally, it can be utilized in control systems of autonomous vehicles and in drivers’ on-board alert systems.
... Non-signalised marked crosswalks are a frequent pedestrian arrangement on such roads. According to the traffic law, on a marked crosswalk, a driver must give right-of-way to pedestrians, thus, originally, marked crosswalks were set in order to improve pedestrian crossing conditions at sites which do not satisfy the warrants for signal installation (Jones & Tomcheck, 2000;Ministry of Transport, 2009). ...
Incomplete vaccine uptake and limited vaccine availability for some segments of the population could lead policymakers to consider re-imposing restrictions to help reduce fatalities. Early in the pandemic, full business shutdowns were commonplace. Given this response, much of the literature on policy effectiveness has focused on full closures and their impact. But were complete closures necessary? Using a hand-collected database of partial business closures for all U.S. counties from March through December 2020, we examine the impact of capacity restrictions on COVID-19 fatality growth. For the restaurant and bar sector, we find that several combinations of partial capacity restrictions are as effective as full shutdowns. For example, point estimates indicate that, for the average county, limiting restaurants and bars to 25% of capacity reduces the fatality growth rate six weeks ahead by approximately 43%, while completely closing them reduces fatality growth by about 16%. The evidence is more mixed for the other sectors that we study. We find that full gym closures reduce the COVID-19 fatality growth rate, while partial closures may be counterproductive relative to leaving capacity unrestricted. Retail closures are ineffective, but 50% capacity limits reduce fatality growth. We find that restricting salons, other personal services and movie theaters is either ineffective or counterproductive.
This study presents the conceptual design of an intersection bus-pedestrian collision warning system for bus drivers approaching an intersection. The basic parameters of the proposed design concept include the bus drivers’ perception-reaction time, the emergency deceleration rate of the bus, and pedestrian walking speed. A bus driving simulation was designed and conducted to analyze bus drivers’ responses to unexpected pedestrians crossing unsignalized intersections or signalized intersections during a green light interval for parameter analysis. The timings of auditory warnings and visual warnings, the locations for vehicle detectors and pedestrian detectors, and the locations for visual warning devices were also developed after analyzing the experimental results. The experimental results also highlight some important characteristics of bus driving behavior at intersections. Moreover, bus drivers really pay attention to the warning messages. Finally, this study develops and discusses some warning algorithms.
Crosswalk markings are a type of facility installed at the vehicle-pedestrian interaction locations and the function is to warn drivers to watch out for pedestrians crossing the street and improve safety for pedestrians. In Beijing, a type of new-designed crosswalk markings in China (NCMC) was installed. However, evaluating the effectiveness of this type of crosswalk markings was not conducted. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of new-designed crosswalk markings. During the evaluation process, the vehicle-pedestrian interaction was considered; standard crosswalk markings in China (SCMC) were taken as a control group. In addition, empirical data were collected from a driving simulator, and nine evaluating indicators representing vehicle operating data, drivers’ maneuvering data and drivers’ subjective evaluation were proposed. In order to combine nine indicators, a Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method was used in this study to achieve the premium degrees of these two types of crosswalk markings. The evaluation result showed that, for intersections with high or low pedestrian flow, the comprehensive effectiveness and influences on drivers’ driving behaviors with presence of NCMC were better than those with presence of SCMC, no matter where vehicle-pedestrian interactions occurred. For intersections with no pedestrians, the comprehensive effectiveness and influences on drivers’ driving behaviors with presence of NCMC were worse than those with presence of SCMC, no matter where vehicle-pedestrian interaction occurred. These results may provide references for facility installing and future development of standards.
Objectives:
In urban settings, pedestrian fatalities and injuries are concentrated on major roads. This study aims to describe urban intersections with major roads (arterials and collector roads) and explore the association between intersection characteristics and injured pedestrians.
Methods:
From a stratified random sampling in Montréal, Quebec, 512 intersections were selected and their characteristics collected. The number of injured pedestrians from 1999 to 2008 was obtained from ambulance services. Binomial negative regression models (including IRR: incidence rate ratios) were calculated to determine associations between intersection characteristics and injured pedestrians: i) at all intersections; ii) at intersections with multi-lane roads and iii) at signalized intersections with available vehicle and pedestrian counts.
Results:
Major intersections had more traffic lanes (3.8 vs. 1.7, p < 0.01) and longer pedestrian crossings (18.8 m vs. 12.7 m, p < 0.01) than minor intersections. Bus stops were also more frequent at these intersections (75% vs. 6%, p < 0.01). Overall, each additional traffic lane was associated with a 75% increase in the number of injured pedestrians (IRR = 1.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.41-2.18). At intersections with multi-lane roads, a fourth branch (IRR = 2.40; 95% CI = 1.53-3.77), vehicles parked within 5 m of the intersection (IRR = 2.40; 95% CI = 1.64-3.51), and marked crosswalks (IRR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.08-2.95) significantly increased the number of injured pedestrians. Raised medians had no significant protective effect.
Conclusions:
The results show that besides traffic and pedestrian volumes, intersection characteristics contribute to pedestrian injuries. The reduction of traffic lanes, parking prohibition near intersections and implementation of appropriate pedestrian refuge areas would improve pedestrian safety.
Esse trabalho apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa de opinião, aplicada em pessoas residentes numa faixa da área urbana de Uberlândia MG, localizada ao longo da rodovia BR-050, realizada para caracterizar e determinar a importância dos impactos resultantes do Efeito Barreira. O Efeito Barreira refere-se aos efeitos das infra-estruturas de transporte sobre os deslocamentos realizados por modos não motorizados. O método empregado para determinar o grau de importância das variáveis de caracterização dos impactos resultantes do Efeito Barreira e dos atributos de definição dessas variáveis consistiu na aplicação de um questionário elaborado segundo as recomendações propostas por Likert e da utilização do Método dos intervalos sucessivos para determinar as distâncias entre os elementos de uma escala. Tal método apresentou-se apropriado, de fácil aplicação e produziu elementos suficientes para a análise. Os resultados mostraram que existem restrições aos deslocamentos a pé realizados pelos moradores de uma área urbana seccionada por uma rodovia (os efeitos), resultantes do Efeito Barreira, como também permitiram identificar a importância dos atributos de definição dessas restrições (as causas).
A field experiment with a new type of uncontrolled pedestrian crossing is presented. The type includes a system for detecting pedestrians near the crosswalk zone and for warning drivers on pedestrian presence, by means of flashing lights embedded in the pavement adjacent to a marked crossing. To evaluate the effects of the device on pedestrian and vehicle behaviours, two variants of the device were installed at four urban locations. The findings are that, under certain conditions, the device can bring about a decrease of 2–5 kph in average vehicle speeds, near the crosswalk zone; an increase in the rate of giving way to pedestrians (e.g. doubling the rate of giving way to a pedestrian, in the situations of beginning a crossing, to some 40%); a significant reduction in vehicle–pedestrian conflicts in the crosswalk zone––to a rate of <1%; a reduction in the share of pedestrians crossing outside the crosswalk area––up to 10%. No improper influence of the system on keeping to safe crossing rules by the pedestrians, was found. Based on the study results, crosswalk site conditions for beneficial system’s implementation were recommended.
This study presents the conceptual design of an intersection bus-pedestrian collision warning system for bus drivers approaching an intersection. The basic parameters of the proposed design concept include the bus drivers’ perception-reaction time, the emergency deceleration rate of the bus, and pedestrian walking speed. A bus driving simulation was designed and conducted to analyze bus drivers’ responses to unexpected pedestrians crossing unsignalized intersections or signalized intersections during a green light interval for parameter analysis. The timings of auditory warnings and visual warnings, the locations for vehicle detectors and pedestrian detectors, and the locations for visual warning devices were also developed after analyzing the experimental results. The experimental results also highlight some important characteristics of bus driving behavior at intersections. Moreover, bus drivers really pay attention to the warning messages. Finally, this study develops and discusses some warning algorithms.
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